Maderville

Crumpdate!
Many of you know that one of my very best friends in the world is Julie Crump and she and her husband are in Utah right now picking up a newborn son. It is an answer to so many prayers and is yet another shining star in the galaxy of proof that God exists. Today, they will sign the paperwork to officially make him theirs. I was once told that I now belong in the same 'club' as Julie because we both share the same heartbreak of having lost a child. The person that said this isn't a very nice(or stable) person and I just had to choose to forgive her for being so ugly. There was nothing Christ-like in her words or her heart that day but she taught me a valuable lesson. She taught me that words can be used to heal a heart or hurt a heart depending on how they are viewed...not by how they are said. I chose, after many painful moments, to first forgive her. Then I chose to laugh to keep from crying because stupid won't rub off with makeup remover or turpentine so sometimes you just have to accept it. As Forest Gump says, "Stupid is, as stupid does." Lastly, I chose to use those words to remind me that any time I find out about some one in 'the club' that I need to extend my prayers to them, my heart to them and my shoulder should they need/want it. Membership into this 'club' comes with too lofty a price and that is why I know that God loved us so very, very much. He gave His only begotten Son so that we may have everlasting life. How does that love compare with anything I have ever done here on earth? There is no comparison and I know it. Being on the receiving end of adoption and having watched my sister and Julie both walk their journeys on the other side of it allowed me to see the face of Jesus in so many people. There is no mistaking the face of Jesus on someone. If you can't find it in someone today...be it for someone.

Pray for this birth mother as she, like God, gave up her son so that he and others may have a better life. That is a love I understand from one perspective but cannot fathom on another. Today and every day, she gets to be the face of Jesus to a special family in Brandon, MS and to all of their friends and family who have walked this journey with them. So I end this post with a huge, heartfelt thanks to a special lady in Utah today. If I could ever meet her, I know that I would recognize her. She would have the face of Jesus and that my friends, is unmistakable.